Mako's Last Black-Tailed Mermaid

The Search and The Reveal

Hayden's POV

After my very inspiring talk with my brother, I knew what I had to do. I got up and grabbed my keys. Josh didn't pay any attention to what I was doing. All I saw was his smile grow wider as he turned the tv back on.

I walked out of our place and jumped into my car. I put my seatbelt on and gripped the steering wheel. I started feeling butterflies in my stomach and my hands grew sweaty. Gosh, am I really this nervous?

I contemplated going back inside and forgetting all about this. But I stopped my own thoughts.

"No Hayden! Be a man about this and tell her how you feel!" Great. Now I'm talking to myself. I'm more terrified than I thought.

I pulled out of my driveway and I drove onto the road. I guess I must've been deep in thought because I almost didn't stop at a red light.

"Concentrate Hayden. You can do this. You practically did the same thing to Stacy." I said into my mirror. Then it hit me. I did the same thing to Stacy and look how we turned out.

No. This is different. Kayla's different. I have to do this. I drove to the hospital and got out of my car. I walked in and asked for Kayla. She told me the room number and I walked in, knocking upon my entrance.

"Kayla?" I asked to the darkened room. I smoothed my hand over the wall, letting it locate the switch. Then there was light.

My heart sank in so many directions, I couldn't count. The bed Kayla was in is empty. No sign of any of her things either. I looked around the room, rummaging through the draws, not knowing what I was looking for.

Where could she have gone?

I walked out of the room and out of the lobby. There, I saw Josh. Waiting.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, apprehensively. He seemed to catch my tone.

"I was checking if you actually did it. What's wrong? You look... Worried." He replied, with delay in his voice.

I looked around the lobby, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kayla. I couldn't see her. Anywhere.

"Hayden! What's going on?" Josh asked, eyes widened.

"She's gone!" I yell in frustration as I run my fingers through my hair. Hoping that it will show me where she could be.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said sadness in his voice.

"No. I mean gone. She's not in her room!" I yelled again, clarifying the term gone.

"She's not in there? What do you mean? Why would she leave?" He asked.

I sat on a nearby chair and rested my head on my hands. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.

"How the he'll would I know?!" I growled at him. He looked at me with sympathy.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." He said. He got up and walked out. I quickly followed behind.

We got into our cars and split up. We agreed on the phone that I would search North and the East of the town and he would search the South and the West.

Hours passed and there was no sign of Kayla anywhere. We tried contacting her brother, sister and friends but nobody was available. Josh and I met up to catchup and discuss some searching plans at a local cafe.

Josh's POV

I drove into the cafe car park and got out. I locked the car and walked in to see a very anxious-looking Hayden, playing with his thumbs.

He didn't even look up when I sat down. He kept checking his phone, as if he thought Kayla was just going to call him.

"Don't you think that if she was going to call you, she would've done it when she ran out of hospital?" I asked. That was probably very stupid of me, as I got a very cold look from my brother.

"Why would she just leave? That doesn't seem normal." He said. Fear started to fill his eyes.

"What if she was taken? What if something bad happened to her?" He asked me.

"I'm sure she's fine. Calm down." I said, with a reassuring smile. He didn't smile back and got up from the table.

"I'm going back out to find her. I'll search everywhere until I find her." He said. I have to say, he's ambitious. I guess he likes this girl more than he knows.

"I'll go too. Call me if you find her and I'll do the same." I say, leaving a tip on the table.

"Thank you Josh. I knew I could depend on you." He said, gratefully.

"Never think any different." I replied.

We walk to our cars and once again, get inside and continue our search. I looked everywhere for some sort of indication of where she ran off too. I decided to drive along the coast.

I was about an hour from where we left the cafe and I started to feel doubtful, not finding any clues as to where she went.

I parked somewhere on the side of the road for a break. I was losing hope, trying to think of all the places I hadn't checked yet.

I was ready to give up when I heard a slight cry. I decided to ignore it, as this is Australia and there often little animals making noises.

But then I heard it again. It was no animal. It sounded... human. I got out of the car to check it out.

I grabbed my phone and locked the door. I didn't walk very far until I heard the cry again. I stopped. I listened to where it could've come from. I heard the cry once more, this time it was followed by a sniffle. That's when I react.

I see a hand from behind a toilet block, just a couple of minutes from the beach. I examine the beautifully painted walls of the block and I walk all the way around it. I saw the hand move and I immediately take action.

"Hello? Is there someone here?" I called out. I look behind me to check if there was anyone. There's nobody for a couple hundred metres, so I continue.

I take a deep breath and I turn the corner where I saw the hand. I was frightened to death at what I saw.

I found Kayla. But I didn't find her as I had hoped. She had a blade in hand and her sleeve pulled up, to reveal thin white lines covering her arm. There were fresh ones too. I watch as the blood quickly seeped out of her inflicted skin. I couldn't speak. I couldn't move.

Snap out it Josh!

"What do you think you're doing!?" I yell at her. I didn't mean it to sound so harsh. But under the circumstances, I don't really care.

This is when she breaks down. I slide next to her and embrace her. She obviously needs somebody to comfort her. I'm going to take it that Hayden didn't know about this.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! I'm a failure. I'm a mistake! I hate my life! I hate myself!" She yells at nobody in particular.

"Hey shhh shhh. It's okay. It's going to be okay." I say. She sobs into my shoulder. As I rub her back comfortingly.

How is Hayden going to take this?

Hell, what I'm I going to do?

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaa!!!! I'm super sorry that I haven't updated till now. I really have tried. But you know school has been stressing me out.
Like who the hell needs maths???? Anyway....
I'm back!!!! And I'm gonna update a whole lot more. I promise.

Toast ya later Marshimallows
Rossys_girl_4eva
Xxo